Seanad debates

Tuesday, 18 February 2003

Finance and Related Matters: Statements.

 

That is a low level of growth. Some years ago, optimistically looking to the future, people thought that 5% was a sustainable level of growth and, to be fair, most parties going into the general election posited their fiscal intentions for the next five years on the basis of 5% growth. To talk of 1.4% or perhaps less for last year is a long way short of that and those figures are genuinely alarming. When Senators on the Government side say that we have nothing to worry about, I suggest that the evidence that we have something to worry about is not just in regard to the job losses to which Senator Higgins referred but also in regard to the figures outlined by the Minister of State. This is a matter of serious concern and, if growth continues at that level, we will be in real trouble from a fiscal point of view and otherwise.

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